College basketball

Huskies escape from New Jersey

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Playing with four fouls, Ben Gordon scored eight of his 22 points over the final 41/2 minutes, and top-ranked Connecticut barely hung on to beat Rutgers 75-74 Tuesday night.

The Huskies (12-1, 1-0 Big East) won their ninth in a row, but the Scarlet Knights (7-4, 0-2) led 65-63 with 4:43 to go on a basket by Herve Lamizana.

A 7-0 run by Gordon gave UConn a five-point lead, but Rutgers had the ball, down three, with 10 seconds left.

After a Rutgers timeout, a poor inbound pass caused a scramble near midcourt that turned into Gordon's fifth foul.

Ricky Shields made two free throws for Rutgers with 7 seconds left, and when Connecticut inbounded the ball, three players were able to touch it without being fouled and the clock ran out.

Emeka Okafor had 21 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots for UConn. Lamizana had 20 points for Rutgers.

NO. 2 DUKE 99, FAIRFIELD 58: Chris Duhon had 20 points for the host Blue Devils (11-1), who have won 34 in a row at home. J.J. Redick hit his 48th consecutive free throw to tie the ACC record set by Virginia's Jeff Lamp during the 1979-1980 season. Deng Gai had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Stags (7-4).

NO. 15 PITTSBURGH 78, VIRGINIA TECH 59: Jaron Brown had 21 points and Julius Page 20 for the host Panthers (15-0, 1-0 Big East), who stretched the nation's longest home-court winning streak to 35 games. Tech's Bryant Matthews, the conference's leading scorer, had 22 points but twisted his ankle on the last play when he tried to catch an alley-oop pass for the Hokies (7-5, 0-1).

AUBURN: Huntsville, Ala., summer league coach Mark Komara denied any financial wrongdoing when questioned by attorneys about his relationship with two former recruits, Chadd Moore of Huntsville and Jackie Butler of McComb, Miss.

C-USA

CHARLOTTE 75, DEPAUL 70: The host Blue Demons (7-5, 0-1) had no answer for Demon Brown as he scored a career-high 34 points for the 49ers (9-3, 1-0).

MEMPHIS 73, VILLANOVA 57: Antonio Burks and Sean Banks each had 22 points for the visiting Tigers (9-2) against the Wildcats (8-4).

NOTES: Florida opens the conference season at South Carolina for the third time in the past four seasons. The Gators have won the past two conference openers and open SEC play on the road for the second straight season. The Gators take on the Gamecocks in the midst of a four-game winning streak, during that span hitting 55 percent from the field. South Carolina's 13 victories already surpasses its total victories last season (12-16). The Gamecocks' starting lineup includes, Kinsey, a Tampa native who played high school ball at Jefferson.

SAN DIEGO: Center Nick Lewis was taken to a hospital after being knocked unconscious during a scramble for a loose ball in the opening minutes at New Mexico. He was listed in satisfactory condition late Tuesday.